Mary
Kole’s new book on craft, Writing
Irresistible Kidlit, (Writer’s Digest Books, Dec. 2012), isn’t the kind of
book you just read; it’s that kind of book that fires up your brain, makes you
stop every few pages to grab a pen and paper, and dash out a line or two. I
recognized many of Kole’s points, but the insight was this: Much of what an author
does is instinctual; what Kole has done is pull the tools out of the box and
assign names to them. How much more useful a tool is when you’re aware it
exists!

Culling
from specific, contemporary works, Kole explains writing practices and goals.
In illuminating “high concept,” she says, “[Readers] want stories that . . .
lift them out of the everyday.” Then she asks, “What’s something they can’t
experience in reality?” (p. 31) She then cites and deconstructs loglines for Holes, Thirteen Reasons Why, The Hunger
Games, and more. It’s this analysis throughout the book that inspires you to put your own work through the
same machinations and see if it’s strong enough to hold up. Tips are specific:
“Make your middle grade characters firmly thirteen and under” (p. 8), and her
discussion on the six things readers should know within the first chapter (p.
78).

Shaded
boxes throughout the text contain exercises addressing character specifics,
theme specifics, voice specifics, etc. Here, Kole takes the abstract and makes it
concrete. You’ll want to print these exercises out and put them together for
reference, a boiled-down toolbox for all your work.

In Writing Irresistible Kidlit, Kole
delivers a user-friendly, specific text on the craft of writing. I found it so
useful that it sits on my desk—open—as I work on my next manuscript.

I read Writing Irresistible Kidlit as an advance copy, and Kole uses as one of
her published samples my first novel, Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by
Lightning.

Did I ever tell you I have a You Tube channel? Please check it out! Danette Haworth You Tube Channel Great stuff for authors, including an interview with Barnes and Noble CRM, Geoffrey Shoffstall.

Bargain deals: Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning is available in HARDCOVER FOR LESS THAN $5.00 ON AMAZON! Perfect for your middle-grade reader this Christmas! Also, I've been keeping a craft book open as I work on my new manuscript--lit agent Mary Kole's Writing Irresistable KidLit, available in paperback and ebook. Perfect for the writer on your Christmas list! Look for my review soon!

JERRY SEINFELD and ORNY ADAMS! On separate dates in January, I get to see Jerry Seinfeld at the Bob Carr, Orlando, and Orny Adams at the Improv! I cannot wait! I've never seen Seinfeld live before, but I have seen Orny and he was excellent. Not only that, but he did a meet-and-greet afterwards and was so patient with me and my sister, spending probably fifteen minutes or so with us because my iPhone camera was flaking out (which, honestly, worked out, because we got to spend more time with Orny!). The only thing that could make the new year better? Brian Regan tickets in February! Dare I to spend more money on comedy?

And finally, Casey and I were hanging around in the backyard today, and I swear I smelled the sweet, powdery scent of orange blossoms. My neighbor's trees are ornamented with perfectly round, shiny oranges, but no blossoms. A close inspection of the greenbelt behind my yard (read: marsh populated by gators, river otter, rattle snakes, scorpions and more) revealed some kind of weedy tree, resplendent with tiny white buds, emitting the sweet perfume.

"I love the book me and jack so much i am doing my book report on it so if you could write back that would be so cool. I love the book me and jack."

I wrote back, asking what Riley's favorite part was, and after receiving the answer, I provided never-seen-before behind-the-scenes info on that particular part of the book. In turn, Riley went all out on the book report. Here's the pic Riley's mom posted:

Yay, Riley! It looks like you did a lot of work on that poster! I hope you received an A for your book report!

Yesterday, I visited Blankner School in Orlando to talk about writing, inspiration, and what makes up a story. I'm here to tell you the students at Blankner were just the kind of people you love to visit! Attentive, engaged, responsive--I saw heads nodding when I hit certain points; people laughed when I hoped they would; and we all had fun with the audience participation bits.
Thank you, Blankner students! And good luck on all your writing!

The University of Central Florida (UCF), my alma mater, place of fond memories, and land that occupies my dreams in which I have the cliched experience of knowing I have a test but have not attended class and I'm walking and walking and where the heck is the building and if I could find my friends (Ann, Grace, Sieglinde, Steve, Dennis, Colin, or Alan) they could tell me where I'm supposed to be and where my classes are. I can never find them, and the campus is endless, with high tech new building I am unfamiliar with.
In any case, UCF vs Ball State! GO KNIGHTS!

A Whole Lot of Lucky

me & jack

The Summer of Moonlight Secrets

Violet

Scholastic Book Trailer for Violet Raines

Thoughts on Writing

"If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster." --Isaac Asimov

"It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up, because by that time I was too famous." --Robert Benchley

"When writers meet, they are truculent, indifferent, or over-polite. Then comes the inevitable moment. A shows B that he has read something of B's. Will B show A? If not, then A hates B; if yes, then all is well." --Cyril Connolly"Yes, it's hard to write, but it's harder not to." --Carl Van Doren

"Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." --Gene Fowler"I always write a good first line, but I have trouble writing the others." --MoliFre

"What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window." --Burton Rascoe

"Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." --Gloria Steinem

"I love being a writer; what I can't stand is the paperwork." --Peter De Vries

"This morning I took out a comma and this afternoon I put it back in again." --Oscar Wilde"I will tell you a story." --Jesus (Matthew 21:28, CEV)